You Buddy beauty: Swans Franklin mint

Sam de Brito

If you listen closely you might hear the sound of humble pie falling from the lips of the naysayers who criticised the Sydney Swans recruitment of Lance "Buddy" Franklin last year.

Buddy, the argument went, was a big head poseur whose "me, me, me" attitude would poison the "Bloods" culture. He was a $10 million case of septicemia that would have half the Swans roster punching holes in Kings Cross niteclub toilet doors instead of the opposition's defence.

Despite being considered a once-in-a-generation player by many observers, having won two premierships and two Coleman Medals, many judges questioned whether the 26-year-old was past his prime.

Admittedly, Franklin had a rocky start to this season, struggling with injury and fitness which affected his form and driving, kicking just 14 goals in his first seven games for Sydney.

Since then, he's kicked 33 goals in eight matches, while the Swans have won 12 straight, surged to the top of the table and Franklin is touted as a possible Brownlow winner, while sitting in third place for the Coleman.

Last week the CEO of the AFL, Gillon McLachlan, described Franklin as the biggest star in the game, saying "there is no more exciting player in Australia".

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“If anyone is going to tell me he has been bad for the promotion of the Swans in our game in NSW I will take them to task,” said the Commissioner, a fair judge of these sort of matters, as well as being a notable sceptic of the Franklin trade when it first happened.

The Swans say their 2014 membership tally will hit 40,000 "any day now", a leap of roughly 4000 on the year before (which was coming off a high base after their 2012 flag).

The home crowd of 41,317 at last month's game versus Port Adelaide was the club's biggest at the SCG in almost two decades and fourth largest ever, with average home game attendance up to 32,393 this year, compared to 28,296 for 2013.

Average national TV ratings for Swans games this year sit at 698,929viewers, compared to a 2013 average of 620,238. The aforementioned Port Adelaide match also set a single game record for merchandising sales, with the club on target for their best year of sales ever.

Jeez, I bet the Swans are spewing they moved heaven and earth to sign the best player in the game. Eddie McGuire sure is.

While Franklin's panache in offence has won hearts all over the SCG, his defence has the likes of Adam Goodes saying: “Everyone from outside the club sees him kicking goals, (and) kicking the big goals to win games for us at crucial times, but it’s the small things for me.

"Bet the Swans are spewing they moved heaven and earth to sign the best player in the game."

“It’s the chasing, it’s the tackling, it’s the one-percenters that he’s doing in that forward line, and creating turnovers in that forward 50, that’s been the real highlight when I watch Buddy and give him feedback.”

If there's one thing more terrifying than trying to tackle a blinding-fast 6'5" (196cm) gazelle on a football field, it has to be getting side-swiped by one.

Against Richmond in round 14, Franklin equalled his career-high for tackles with seven, before breaking that mark with eight a fortnight later against West Coast.

Of course, this weekend, the Swans meet Buddy's old club Hawthorn in Melbourne for the first time since his departure, in an MCG game that has fans across the country salivating.

Franklin is in blinding form but, more importantly, the whole team is firing, every player being lifted to a higher level each week, the Bloods culture stronger than ever.